Spell of the Crystal Chair (5 page)

Sarah took in the bleak landscape and nodded. “I don’t like it either. It’s not very pretty.”

“Very pretty!” Abbey exclaimed. “It’s hideous! I don’t think we’re ever going to get there, and it’s so
cold!”

They had left the sunshine behind several days ago, and the skies were lowering and gray. A moaning wind whipped around them, biting at them with its freezing breath. They had all put on their warmest clothes, but only Fairmina had fur trousers, fur-lined boots, and a hood that she could pull down over her face. The furs were white and the prettiest that any of the Sleepers had ever seen.

“I wish we all had fur coats like that,” Reb managed to say through chattering teeth. “I never could stand cold weather.”

“And there’s snow coming,” Josh predicted. He tried not to complain, but he also had been raised in the South and was not accustomed to the cold.

“Why don’t you ask her how much farther it is, Josh?” Dave suggested.

“Well, it couldn’t hurt. I’ll see where we are.” He pushed his small pony ahead until he caught up with Fairmina.

The princess turned to face him. “What is it?”

“I hate to complain, but we’re not used to this cold weather, Princess.”

“Cold!” Fairmina exclaimed. “You call this cold?”

“Don’t you?”

She laughed. “This is not cold. You will see cold in a few days. Real cold.”

“How much farther is it?”

“We will hit the ice country tomorrow. Then the pleasant part of our journey will be over.”

Josh was stunned. He let his horse fall back, and the other Sleepers gathered around him.

“What did she say?” Sarah asked. “Will we be there soon?”

Josh laughed with a hollow sound. “She didn’t say. She just said the fun part of our journey’s almost over.”

“Fun part!” Wash said. He was beating his hands together to bring some life into them. “She calls this fun?”

“She says this isn’t really cold,” Josh said grimly.

“Well, if this ain’t cold, I’d hate to see what is,” Reb said. “My Uncle Seedy, he said it got so cold one time where he lived that when he said something, the words froze. Fell right on the ground. They had to wait until spring until they thawed out so they could hear what he was saying.”

Reb always was telling some tall tale like this. Usually they brought a laugh, but this time everyone was too miserable.

“Well,” Dave said, “we can’t turn back. And Goél wasn’t joking when he said this would be a real test.”

For the next three days, the weather grew colder and colder. Then, late one afternoon, Princess Fairmina reined in her horse and waited for the others to catch up. She swung an arm and said, “There is Whiteland.”

They all stared, and Josh’s heart sank. “It’s nothing but snow and ice!”

“Of course. That is why we call it Whiteland. What did you expect?” the princess snapped.

“I don’t know what I expected,” Josh said. “Is it all like this?”

“There are mountains, and in the summer there is much green pasture when the snow melts. But this is not summer now. It is the worst part of winter. I myself would not have planned such a dangerous journey, for the cold can kill as easily as an arrow.”

Josh had never seen such a barren landscape.
For sure we’ll all die in this place
, he thought. The cold was already bitter, and his hands were so stiff he could not feel them.

Sarah said, “I don’t mean to put you down, Fairmina, but this is an awful place for those of us who are used to warmer climates.”

“It is a hard land, and only hardy people can live here,” Fairmina admitted, “but it is my home. It is beautiful at times. You will soon see the great lights—all the colors of the rainbow all over the sky.”

“That’s the northern lights,” Jake said with interest. But his teeth were chattering, and his shoulders jerked
with the cold. “I’d like to see them. It’s a nice place to visit. But I wouldn’t want to live here.”

“Come. We can go only a few more miles with the horses.”

“We’ve got to leave the horses behind?” Josh said with astonishment.

“Certainly. They could not travel through the deep snow.”

“You don’t have any
horses
in your country?” Reb asked.

“No. We have other animals—reindeer, moose, wolves, others—but not horses. They could not survive the winters. They are not hardy enough.”

“But what will we do with these horses?”

“Leave that to me,” Fairmina said.

They reached a village just as the sun was going down. The place was a collection of huts and stone houses scattered over a small area, apparently without any plan or forethought. There was an inn, however, and Fairmina said, “We can stay here tonight.”

“I’ll be glad to get in a bed again!” Sarah sighed.

A short, dumpy man named Farroh served them a hot meal. It was not particularly well cooked. The meat was tough, and when Reb asked what it was, Farroh said shortly, “Moose.”

“Well, it’s not tougher than shoe leather,” Reb commented. He chewed vigorously, then said, “I hope the rest of the critters in this part of the world aren’t so tough.”

“You can sleep late tomorrow,” Fairmina told them with a tight smile. “I have business to take care of.”

“Well, that’s a relief!” Wash said. “I feel like I haven’t slept more than an hour at a time since we started this trip.” He was standing beside the fire, soaking
up the heat. “I’m going to sleep right here in front of this fireplace,” he said, “unless there’s one in our bedroom.”

The “bedrooms” were two upstairs rooms, neither of which had fireplaces. There were no beds either—simply rough mattresses. These were stuffed with some sort of seeds and were not much softer than the floor itself.

Josh stayed awake for a while, talking with Dave about the future. “I’m worried, Dave,” he said. “It was all I could do just to stay on a horse in this awful cold. How can we
walk?”

“I know what you mean,” Dave said. “It’s so cold outside I can’t even talk. My lips get frozen.”

“Fairmina doesn’t seem to mind.”

“She was born here. She’s used to it. But the rest of us aren’t that tough.” He bit his lip. “I don’t know, Josh. This looks like a mighty tough assignment to me.”

When Josh woke up the next morning, he hated to get out from under the thin blankets. He had been cold all night. But he got up anyway and dressed quickly. “Let’s go downstairs, fellas. Maybe there’s a fire down there.”

“Maybe they’ve got a good bunch of hotcakes ready for us,” Reb said hopefully.

They found the girls already huddled in front of the fireplace.

“I didn’t sleep a wink,” Abbey said. “There was no bed, and that mattress was worse than riding a horse.”

“Where’d Fairmina go?” Dave asked their host.

Farroh grunted but made no answer.

“Thanks a lot,” Dave said. “I’ll always appreciate that good information.”

They ate breakfast—it was hot porridge—and when
Farroh complained that they ate too much, Volka put his enormous hands around the man’s neck. He half lifted him off the floor and boomed, “More food! More food!”

“All right! All right! Put me down! You can have more.”

Volka put the man down and proceeded to eat enormous quantities of porridge.

Just as they finished breakfast, suddenly Dave, who was looking out the window, said, “There comes Fairmina. She’s driving a
dog team!”

They all pulled on their coats and piled outside as the princess drew up the team with a spoken command.

“What beautiful dogs—and so big!” Sarah cried.

“Good sled dogs. I traded the horses for them.”

“But we can’t all ride in that little sled,” Josh said.

Fairmina laughed. “Ride in the sled! No. That’s for the supplies. Come inside. Bring those bundles with you.”

The bundles proved to be fur outfits that Fairmina had bought with some of the gold that Goél had provided. “We’ll be leaving soon,” she said. “Put on these furs. They ought to keep you warm, and I also bought special underwear for all of you.”

Up in the girls’ bedroom with their bundles of fur, Sarah said, “These are
beautiful furs!
I wonder what they are.”

“They look like mink. It’s such soft fur, and I bet they’re warm.”

“And look at this!” Sarah said as she opened a package. She drew out what appeared to be long underwear and socks. “Why, they’re like silk!” she marveled.

When the girls put on the underwear, they found that, whatever the material was, it had marvelous insulating qualities. “They’re kind of like wet suits,” Abbey decided—she had done a little snorkeling. “They keep the cold out like magic.”

The fur outfits were made in three parts—trousers that were held up by a drawstring, a parka with a hood that could be pulled down about the face, and a pair of sturdy, fur-lined boots.

They were also provided with fur mittens.

The girls admired themselves, and Abbey said, “These would cost a fortune back in Oldworld. If they really
are
mink, they’d probably be ten thousand dollars apiece.”

“Well, they’re worth it if they’ll keep us warm. Come on. Let’s go see what the boys look like.”

The boys were downstairs, all wearing their fur outfits. Volka looked the strangest of all.

Fairmina explained, “I had to have three suits split and resewed for him. But without them, he would freeze to death just like the rest of you.”

Volka looked like a walking mountain of fur. He laughed a booming laugh and said, “Warm! Feels good!”

The rest of the morning was spent purchasing supplies. By the time the sled was loaded with their weapons and food for the journey, even Fairmina shook her head. “It will be hard work for the dogs.”

“But what about us? It’s snowing out there. That snow’s already two feet deep. We couldn’t get a hundred yards without giving out,” Josh cried.

“That’s what these are for.” Fairmina brought out a pair of snowshoes. “I have a set for each of you. Have you ever used snowshoes before?”

No one could say yes to that, and again Fairmina
shook her head. “It will be hard for you, then. But come. I will give you your first lesson. We must get on our way. I fear for my people.”

Walking on snowshoes was an entirely new experience for the Sleepers. They fastened them on, and Fairmina began instructing them. Nearly all of them took one step and fell down.

“You can’t walk normally,” Fairmina explained patiently. “If you move your legs straight ahead as you usually walk, one snowshoe will land on the top part of the other and hold it down. That’s why you’re falling.”

“What do we do, then?” Josh asked in embarrassment.

“You have to spread your legs wider apart than usual and take longer steps.” Fairmina demonstrated. She herself had no trouble, but it took some time to get everyone else ready to move.

“All right,” she said at last. “We’ll leave now. We have to make up as much time as we can, and I expect you’ll be sore tomorrow.”

They did not get very far that first day. The snow-shoes proved to be a great problem for all except Fairmina. Time and again someone would forget to swing his legs clear, would step on the other snowshoe, and go down in the snow. Everyone’s legs began to ache, and by two o’clock Abbey said, “I can’t go any farther.”

“I don’t think I can, either,” Sarah confessed. “We’re just not used to this, Fairmina.”

“All right. I’m not surprised. We will camp over against that rock. It will be a little shelter.”

The “little shelter” was just a large cliff that leaned outward. The snow beneath it was only an inch or two deep, however.

Fairmina loosed the dogs and fed them dried fish.
She also offered to do most of the cooking, since Abbey and Sarah were exhausted.

Some wood was available, but it took a lot of searching. By the time the boys had gathered enough for a fire, they were exhausted, too. Volka wandered off and brought back an enormous dead tree and simply broke off branches with his huge club. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

Mat said, “Aren’t you tired, Volka?”

“Tired! Are you?”

Mat hated to admit that he ever had any weaknesses. “No, I’m not tired!” he snapped.

“Yes, you are,” Tam said wearily. “You’re as tired as I am.” The Gemini twins possessed the strange ability to know just how each other felt. There was also something else strange about them. They could not be separated by distance. If they got beyond a certain number of miles from each other, both began to sicken. And if they were not brought back together, they would die.

Fairmina soon had the supper ready. This time it was simply meat heated on skewers over the fire. Everyone but Volka was ready for a rest, and after eating and then drinking a little of the hot tea that they had brewed, they all fell into their blankets and went to sleep.

The next few days were torment for the Seven Sleepers. When they awoke the next morning, their legs were so sore that Abbey cried out, and the rest of them said they wanted to.

Reb massaged his legs. “I’ve never been so sore in my whole life,” he said, “but if that woman can do it, I can too,” he said grimly.

They struggled on, trying to make as much progress as they could, but it was three days before the soreness was worked out.

On that third day they were practically out of food. The trees were far more scarce now, so even firewood was hard to come by.

It was just after noon when they found themselves by what looked like a frozen sea. Fairmina suddenly halted the dog team. She quickly rummaged around in the sled and brought out what appeared to be a spear.

“What do you see? Is it an enemy?” Josh cried.

“No. A seal. Wait here. You don’t know how to hunt seal.”

The Sleepers watched Fairmina, in her white ermine furs, cautiously make her way toward a patch of open water. Then they saw her freeze, and Josh said, “I can’t even
see
a seal.”

“Well, she can, I reckon,” Reb said.

Sure enough, in one smooth motion Princess Fairmina arose and cast the harpoon.

“She’s got him!”

For a few moments, Fairmina struggled with the harpoon rope, hauling something dark out of the hole in the ice. Then she threw her catch over her shoulder and came back. “Not a very large one,” she said, “but he’ll do.”